1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to fiber optic housing assemblies, and more particularly, to fiber optic housing assemblies adapted to provide technicians with convenient access to the internal portions of the housing assemblies.
2. Description of Related Art
Fiber optic housing assemblies are often used to provide connection points, slack storage, and other functionalities for fiber optic communications networks at various points in the networks. For example, housing assemblies are often used in the central office or at customer premises in equipment racks to modularly contain and provide the technicians access to fiber optic connections, such as cross-connects, splices, or the like, to splitter modules, and to other fiber optic hardware.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate two prior art housing assemblies. FIG. 1 shows a housing assembly 10 into which fiber optic cables 12 enter and/or exit and are connected, spliced, or otherwise manipulated within the housing assembly. Housing assembly 10 includes an interconnection portion 14 and a splice portion 16; however, as the housing assembly defines a fixed panel housing assembly, in order for technicians to make fiber optic connections, fiber optic splices, or the like, the technician must walk around the equipment rack (not shown) to access the back of the fixed panel housing assembly thus complicating the technician's task and requiring additional technician time.
Turning now to FIG. 2, a second prior art housing assembly 20 is shown. The housing assembly 20 includes a slide-out shelf 22 that includes a splice portion 24 for receiving a splice assembly (not shown) and corresponding slack storage for the spliced fiber optic cables (not shown). Although the slide-out shelf 22 does provide improved access to the splice portion 24, such a splice portion would be difficult for a technician to access if the housing assembly 20 were positioned near the upper portion of the equipment rack. Indeed, technicians often are required to use step ladders to access such housing assemblies, thus requiring additional technician time and creating possible safety concerns. Similarly, when the housing assembly 20 is positioned near the lower portion of the equipment rack, the technician must stoop or sit on the ground to work with the splice portion 24 or other portions of the housing assembly, which may not be desirable to the technician.
Still further prior art housing assemblies include panels that swing outward about a vertical axis to provide a technician access to the front and back of the panel. However, these prior art housing assemblies fail to address the difficulty in accessing housing assemblies that are positioned relatively high and relatively low in an equipment rack. Therefore, a need exists for a fiber optic housing assembly that provides convenient access to the various portions therein regardless of the vertical position of the housing assembly in the equipment rack.